Memories in ruins

"Kyoooukoooo! Let's go! The sun is setting!"

A girl with long red hair that, even using a ponytail tied with a black bow, reached her waist. She was wearing the traditional uniform of Mitakihara school and was in front of a stand of fruits and vegetables. She was receiving a paper bag from the seller, containing the apples she had just bought, when she heard her name.

She turned in the direction whence came the voice and her red eyes found a blue haired girl who, unlike her, has a hair cut so short that barely reached her shoulders. This girl was wearing the same uniform and her face, with eyes of a sky blue color, showed impatience.

"Wait Sayaka. Just lemme finish negotiating with the nice man here." Kyouko, referring to the seller, grinned. It was good to flatter a little, for the apples were too expensive!

Sayaka approached Kyouko and pulled her by the arm. "Hurry up!"

"Tch..." Kyouko opened the bag she always carries to school and took the required money. "Hey man. Here." Kyouko throws the coins on the counter, some rolling out and fall through the floor, to the despair of the seller.

"Kyouko!" Sayaka was not happy with Kyouko's attitude.

"What? Didn't you ask me to come, huh?" Kyouko said while looking in the paper bag for the first apple she would eat.

"Can't you think about food when we're home? Now we'll have to run to get 'there' in time." Sayaka said while picking up the pace, beginning to run.

"I could if that 'there' wasn't theeeeere in the old part of the city!" Kyouko snapped as she tried to follow Sayaka, having difficulty because the extra weight she was carrying. "I hafta restore my energies, ya' know?"

Kyouko Sakura was living at Sayaka Miki's house since a few months ago and the two leave the school together. Sometimes they take a "detour" on the way home. Usually to the arcade or the mall, sometimes they eat something too. However today there was not a 'deviation' planned, but after school Sayaka invited her to go to a very special place. Now that Kyouko knows this place is in the old part of town, she was not so sure that it was 'special'.

"Hey, Sayaka. It's still a long way?" Kyouko was already on the fourth apple.

"No, I guess we are nearby." Sayaka was still leading.

"You guess?! You don't know where it is?" Kyouko's blood began to boil.

"Well... it could be not there anymore." The end of Sayaka's response was almost inaudible to Kyouko.

"Ah! So it's one of those amusement parks that move from town to town?" Kyouko began to calm down, imagining that a session of bumper cars with Sayaka could compensate the journey.

"No no. I'll show you when we get there." Sayaka looks back to get an idea of how Kyouko's mood was.

"'Get 'there'. Riiiiiight." Kyouko said in an unfriendly tone.

Kyouko had no more hopes. The old part of Mitakihara is famous for its stone buildings and masonry, different from glass and metal of the modern part. The only thing that might be interesting in this place would be an exquisite restaurant, but they had no money or clothes to get into one of them.

Sayaka suddenly stopped running, her face showed surprise and joy. "Found it!"

"Finally!" Kyouko stopped beside Sayaka. She was searching in the bag for the sixth apple with her hand while looking around for Sayaka's 'special' place.

Kyouko found that there was nothing special in those surroundings, except a large building that was in the middle of a courtyard overgrown with weeds. Its stone walls contained several stained glass windows, many of them broken. The entrance was a huge wooden door that stood on a tower in the center. What caught the attention of Kyouko was the strong foreign influence architecture, even more so because she felt a certain familiarity.

"Hey, Sayaka. The place you wanted to show is here?" Kyouko pointed to the seemingly abandoned building.

"Yes!" Sayaka answer with a big smile.

"Y-You're kidding right? This is a church!" Kyouko was wide-eyed, more surprise than anger.

"Well... it's...hehe" Sayaka puts hand behind her head and begins to itch while smiling. But her face changed suddenly, her eyes are wide as the girl's next to her and her smile disappears. She stares Kyouko and questions, "How did you know it's a church?"

Kyouko opened her mouth promptly to say 'It's obvious', but she hesitated. Would it be obvious? Why was that the first thing that went through my head? At that moment she noticed Sayaka had an anxiety countenance. It seemed like the answer of that question was of paramount importance.

"I saw that it has a lot of stained glass. Churches has stained glass, right? So I deduced. Duh!" This was not the reason that the word church came first, but Kyouko did not want to look stupid.

Sayaka's face showed only sadness, that was not the answer she had hoped for. "You're right Kyouko. Well... what I want to show you is inside. Shall we?" Sayaka get into the courtyard overgrown with weeds, towards the door of the church.

Kyouko, with the same hand that had discarded the sixth apple that she had finished eating, pulls Sayaka arm. "Hey Sayaka!"

"What?!" Sayaka was already used to the impulsivity of Kyouko, but it still startles her sometimes.

Kyouko gave an inquisitive and penetrating gaze. "You're not in one of 'those moments'?"

One thing that always made Kyouko concerned was the fluctuation of Sayaka's humor. There are moments that Sayaka was happy and the two had a great time. In other moments, however, Sayaka was crying for nothing and was paranoid, fearing that someone was watching. Kyouko was afraid that, one day, Sayaka would even commit an act of madness.

"And if I say yes? Will you give up? After all this walking? I really wanted to show you what's inside." Sayaka said with determination.

"Give Up? Me? Haha! I just don't wanna carry a crying baby when we get back to home, huh?" Kyouko let Sayaka arm. She would not give up, especially when curiosity already spoke louder.

"Deal!" Sayaka raised her arm that Kyouko just dropped and clenched her fist.

"That's how you say it, girl!" Kyouko clenched her fist too and punched Sayaka's, signaling their agreement.

The two crossed the courtyard and reached the large wooden door. Sayaka tried to open the door, but failed.

"Damn!"

"What?" Sayaka turned her attention to Kyouko. She saw that Kyouko had taken another apple from the bag, which was now completely empty.

"I should have bought more." Kyouko crumpled the bag and threw on the floor.

"Hey!" Sayaka, with an angry expression, put her hands on her hips.

"C'mon! You won't come with the uptight now. This place is abandoned." Kyouko rolled her eyes.

"Okay okay! Help me to push the door. I think it's stuck." Sayaka returned to the door and put both hands on it.

"Right." Kyouko held the apple with her mouth and went to help Sayaka.

"On three." Sayaka said.

"Mmff!" Kyouko nodded.

"One. Two. THREE!"

The two pushed with all their might. The door moved a little, but not opened.

Kyouko was the first to stop. She took the apple from the mouth, but not before biting a good piece.

Sayaka stopped too. "What the hell! Doesn't open. Looks like there's something on the other side holding it."

Shaking her long red hair, Kyouko turned her head. She returned to observe the construction that the two are planning to invade.

"When was the last time you came here, Sayaka? It was before I went to live in your house?"

There was a brief pause before Sayaka's response. "Yup. It was."

"And at that time you managed to open the door?" Kyouko, seeing that Sayaka was slow to respond, bite another piece of apple.

"Yup. Sure..." Sayaka said as if reminded of something.

Without noticing it, Kyouko continued. "Look. I think we can try to get through one of these broken stained glass. We'll just have to be careful not to c..."

Kyouko was interrupted by the sound of an impact and wood breaking. Her eyes widened to see that Sayaka had not only opened, but knocked down the door! With a kick!

"WWHHHAAAATTT?! Where are you working out, girl?"

"I think this walk left my legs stronger. Hehe." Sayaka was scratching her head.

After recovering from the surprise, Kyouko discovered what was blocking the door: inside the building was also taken by weeds and had numerous debris and wooden planks on the floor too.

"Let's go Kyouko! I want to take you down the aisle." Sayaka entered, walking over the fallen door.

"So this is it! You want to marry me." Kyouko, speaking in jest, came too.

"Hahaha. Only if you wash the dishes every day." Sayaka said.

"Keep dreaming."

The altar that Sayaka mentioned was a wooden platform that was just on the other side of a large hall, in relation to the door through which they entered.

"Be careful not to stumble." Sayaka was pointing to any type of debris that was on the floor.

The two came up a flight of stairs that led to the platform. The steps were made of simple wooden boards.

"Hmmm...Sayaka. Are these stairs safe? "Kyouko stopped following Sayaka before the two began to go up.

"Didn't I say I came here? Are you scared?" Sayaka peeked at Kyouko with a confident look, smiling.

Without seeking to answer the question, Kyouko went first.

When the two reached the platform. Kyouko took the opportunity to observe the hall where they were, as she finished her apple. The ceiling was high and made of stone. The walls were practically composed only of stained glass of all sizes. Many of them were broken, but watching those that were whole, one could bet they were very beautiful. The orange light of the setting sun gave the final touch, bringing heat to a place so cold and empty. However, a dark curtain was coming down on that environment. In a minute or two, orange tones would be replaced by the night pitch.

Sayaka watched the reactions of Kyouko. Ironically, she had to thank Homura to have recreated the world so perfectly, including the church where they were. Sayaka saw her friend finished eating the apple, her nibbling lips with a canine tooth showing.

"This is the place. What do you think?" Sayaka joined hands in the form of prayer, seeking contain a stir.

"Yeah... It's kinda beautiful here, but it seems be boring too." Kyouko threw the apple toward the stairs.

Sayaka watched the apple bouncing step by step down to the floor. "And you don't feel anything?"

"Like what? Spirits? Buuuu!" Kyouko grimaced. Seeing that Sayaka did not respond to the joke, she continued. "I feel nothing."

Sayaka was crestfallen. "What if I tell you this..."

The dark curtain came down.

"...was your father's church?"

Kyouko's face froze, except a vein on her forehead that had just jumped out. She took a deep breath and answered. "If this was to be a joke... Tch..." Kyouko paused for a moment and let her teeth bare themselves. She breathed deep once again. "My father was an atheist."

"Sorry." Sayaka still head down, said in a low, mournful tone.

Kyouko smiled again. "Hey. Hey... Remember what we agreed?"

"Sorry." Sayaka yet answered quietly, but was not so mournful.

The dark curtain was about to reach the platform.

"Look." Kyouko reached into a pocket of her uniform. "You did a big job in bringing me here. So I think I should reward my dear cousin."

Even with head down, Sayaka noticed that Kyouko had removed an apple from her pocket and was offering it to her. "Kyouko? Do You..."

"I was bargaining there. Get it? You didn't let me finish. So I had to compensate for the expense." Kyouko winked.

Furiously, Sayaka slapped the apple, it flew and got lost in the weeds and debris on the floor.

Kyouko advanced with anger toward Sayaka and shook her. "What the fuck did you have in your head, huh? You know I... I..." The shake stopped. Kyouko's eyes began to move from side to side, as if looking for something.

Noting that Kyouko had gone from anger to confusion, Sayaka returned to raise her head. "Kyouko?"

Kyouko released Sayaka and started to walk away. "Wait... wait ... um... this already happened?"

Not letting her get away more, Sayaka hugged her. "Kyouko! Do you remember?"

The curtain reached the two girls. For a moment, the darkness saved them from the surrounding lies. Only their feelings were still there.

"Sayaka." Kyouko speaks very softly.

"Yes..." Sayaka at that time could not discern from who these heartbeats belonged.

"Why am I still wearing that stupid uniform?" Kyouko returned the embrace of Sayaka.

Tears of joy began to slide on the surface of Sayaka. Yeah... I was unable to meet the deal.

／人 ◕‿‿◕ 人＼

"Bwahaha! I knew it! I knew that girl was completely out of her mind! Hahaha! But this? Hahaha! It's ridiculous!" Kyouko was looking at the moon rising in the sky. A moon that had been literally cut in half!

The two were walking by Mitakihara streets, returning home. Sayaka's mother must have been furious, but that was one of the minor concerns.

"Do you think she is insane?" Sayaka had already informed Kyouko of what Homura Akemi had done.

"Of course! The silent ones are the most dangerous." Kyouko still looking at the moon. "When we hunted demons, she only opened her mouth to speak about that Madoka. Remember?"

Kyouko saw that her bluenette friend frowned.

"Yeah. Now I know that she exists..." Kyouko waited Sayaka for some response, but without success. "Hey. Have you gotten any news of Mami?"

Now Kyouko had obtained a reaction: Sayaka's eyes widened and lowered her head a little.

Kyouko stopped walking. "Sayaaaka. What happened?"

Sayaka stopped too. "I want to talk about it another time."

"That time is now." Kyouko's body was completely tense.

Sayaka took a deep breath before speaking. "Today, after the end of class. You know when you were at the candy vending machine? It was then that I saw..." Sayaka was concerned about what the next words would mean to Kyouko. "...Mami-san along with Homura Akemi."

"Yeah. And...?" Kyouko continued listening.

"Well... I bet she was distracted with Mami-san and then I took a chance and brought you to the church. The rest you know." Sayaka smiled at Kyouko.

Kyouko started closing her fists. "Do you really think that demented girl will do something with Mami?"

Sayaka was sweating cold. If Kyouko went after Mami, she could put everything in jeopardy. "She'll be fine. At most, she'll be lobotomized."

"LoboWHAT?!"

Sayaka gave a little jump with Kyouko's reaction. She looked around to see if that scene had not called anyone's attention. Fortunately, it was not the case.

"Calm down Kyouko. It was just a way of speaking. Hehe. What I mean is that, at most, Mami-san's memories will be changed again. "

"And that's not BAD?" The frenzy of Kyouko continued.

"Yeah, but it's reversible. As you can attest." Sayaka gave the biggest smile she could to reduce the tension.

Gradually, Kyouko relaxed her stance.

"Let's go home. Ok? We need to rest and eat." Sayaka winked to finish the sentence.

"Heh. It would be good..." She was calmer, but Kyouko has not shown much sympathy with the suggestion of Sayaka.

The two returned to walk side by side. They barely passed a block when Kyouko asked. "How many times has my memory has been changed?"

Sayaka, surprised by the question, took a while to formulate a response. "This is the first time you recovered your memories."

"Really?"

"Yup. So I'll have to teach you everything I know, so you don't get caught by that traitor. Right?" Sayaka shoved Kyouko and broke into a run. "ROOKIE!"

"ROOKIE?! Get back here! I'll show you who's the rookie!" Kyouko subsequently pursued Sayaka.

"HAHAHAHAHA!"

Despite the odds, Sayaka was happy. For the first time she had managed to recover the memory of her friend. She hoped one day to achieve the same feat with Madoka.

／人 ◕‿‿◕ 人＼

Mami Tomoe observed the moon through the window of her apartment. Despite being cut in half, it shone majestically. "You don't really want to me to call a cab, Saitou-san?"

"There's no need. I can take care of myself." Homura gave a simple smile as the two were heading to the exit door.

It was time to Homura leave, after an evening of tea and cookies in Mami's apartment. The visitor was already out while the host had been taking care of the door.

"What did you think about the teas that I prepared?" Mami asked with a serene voice.

"They were excellent. Especially the black one." Homura answered promptly.

Mami was a little flushed. "Black tea? Huhu. I think I just prepared it with more affection for being my favorite."

"Certainly." Homura said, closing her eyes.

Turning her head, Mami said. "Nagisa!"

Homura's eyes opened again. The few traces of sympathy that she was presenting were gone.

Soon a silver lock of hair appeared, claiming that someone was behind Mami. A small hand grasped the right side of her uniform and then, tentatively, the face of a girl with orange eyes appeared.

"Nagisa. I want you to say goodbye to Saitou-san." Mami lovingly moved Nagisa's fringe to the side.

Nagisa did not direct her gaze to Homura. "Bye... Saitou-san." Saying quietly.

"She always this shy?" Homura asked without taking her eyes off Nagisa.

"Huhu. No no. She's quite playful. I think she was surprised a bit. That's all." At that moment, Mami felt that Nagisa's hand had tightened around her uniform.

"Yeah... I'm scary sometimes. Fufu." Homura looked back at Mami.

"Now! Now! Come on! You're always welcome here." Mami put her hand on her chest. "Come visit me more often. She'll get used to you. Then you'll know how troublesome she can be sometimes. Huhu."

"Fufu. I can imagine. "Homura flipped her hair back. "Tomoe-senpai, Momoe-san. Thanks for the tea and good night."

Homura began to walk toward the stairs that led to the exit of the building.

"Good night Saitou-san. Take care." Mami spoke before closing the door.

Homura was already on the street when she began to grumble.

"Waste of time."

The night was not as profitable as expected for Homura. The fear expressed by Nagisa was clearly suspicious. However, consciously or not, Nagisa just messed with the protective instincts of Mami. The blonde took the reins in every conversation and Homura was unable to get any relevant information regarding the little girl.

Homura stared at the top of her left hand as a violet gem, in the form of a diamond, arose.

"Smart little witch..."

Sayaka was synonymous of problems, but Homura knew that girl very well. Nagisa was just the opposite: she had not bothered but little was known about her past. She was an unpredictable and dangerous variable in her world, especially now that Homura found out that Mami had recovered her memories.

"...but if my theory is right..."

Homura would not take any risks. She would protect Madoka from any possibilities.

In the dead of the night, no one was around to hear the sound of two claps.

Next chapter: Contrast